Reaching the Coveted “Mommy Bloggers”

By Alaina Sheer
Cement Marketing Founder and Chief Digital Strategist

For years now, and even more so recently, the Mom blogger has been on the every major brand’s short list of prime audiences to infiltrate. Many don’t even know where to begin, others step bravely into our serene corner of the Internet and try to break through. Some succeed and others are find themselves on the receiving end of a delete key.

As a “Mommy blogger” myself marketers have been approaching me for years to sample their products, review their products, or to mention or giveaway their products. My single mom blog has 15,000 -20,000 unique visitors a month and my loyal audiences values my opinion. Clearly, I am wearing two hats here, and I recognize the value in that audience. I guess that’s why it never ceases to amaze me at how inept many marketers are when it comes to reaching out to Mom bloggers. I just want to reach into my inBox and shake them a little and say, “What are you doing? You know better than this!”

A majority of the e-mails I receive from marketers lack substance or any relevancy to my blog or my blog’s story; therefore, I am left  hard-pressed to find a way to connect their product with my readers and, you guessed it, they get a big “delete”.

Here are a few golden rules of thumb when reaching out to a Mom blogger:

1. Never call her a “mommy blogger” or a “mom blogger”. I’m not one of them, but many “Mom bloggers” hate the term. So best to just leave that one by the wayside.

2. Don’t pretend like you’ve read my blog. I receive three to four e-mails from marketers a day and I’ve learned by now when someone is plugging and pasting.

3. Remember what you’re asking. The integrity of my blog is first and foremost. There’s no way I am going to risk losing a few readers by boring them with a post about your boring product.

4. If you really want an in – customize your offer to the Mom’s blog. Here’s an example, if you want to create a buzz for your new household cleaning product create a Mommy blogger contest (but don’t call it a Mommy blogger contest) rewarding the cleanest Mom blogger with a huge prize pack and a big, shiny badge for her to display on her blog. To enter she’ll have to write a blog post about why she’s the cleanest blogger out there. Or the messiest. Mix it up. Make it fun. But, above all, make it about them. The blogger is the center of attention and her audience is right there with her.

5. Never, ever ask her, or any blogger for that matter, to do something for you in exchange for mentioning your product. If you are one of the few lucky marketers who gets a reply back from a Mom blogger, take a few bows in your office, and then keep your replies short and simple. Answer her questions but do not ask anything of her that requires any more of her time.

6. Give us something to give our readers. You have to pay to play and we like prizes for our readers. Prizes make our readers happy and they boost our blog traffic. If you don’t have anything to offer us (about 80% of the e-mails I receive from marketers have zilch in the way of an offer) than save yourself some time and buy some traditional advertising.

7. Spend the extra hours it takes to find the Mom bloggers you truly believe will appreciate and value your product. The truth is, and I know you’ve heard it before, you have to live in the space and truly listen the conversation before you can dive in.

From now on, instead of hitting the delete key, I think I’ll send all of my fellow marketers to this post. I hope it helps, I do. Having brands in the mix, at least on my blog, makes things a bit more interesting and fun for my readers.

Tags | marketing to mom bloggers, mom blogger, mom blogger contest, mom blogger marketing, mom blogger outreach, single mom blogger